Registering and canceling ballot-box.



.No. 807,882. PATENTED DEC. 19, 1905. B. K. TOLMAN.

REGISTERING AND GANGELING BALLOT BOX.

APPLICATION FILED APR.24, 1905.

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BB K? No. 807,882. PATENTED DEC. 19, 1905. E. K. TOLMAN.

REGISTERING AND GANGELING BALLOT BOX.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 24, 1905.

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I T11.) QTI'EOY" vhoT ne L UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

REGISTERING AND CANCELING BALLOT-BOX.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 19, 1905.

Application filed April 24, 1905. Serial No. 257,033.

To all whom it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD K. TOLMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Vorcester, in the county of Worcester and Commonwealth ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Registeringand Canceling Ballot-Boxes, of which the following is a specification,accompanied by drawings forming a part of the same, in which Figure 1represents a top view of a ballotboX embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is aside elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a 1011- gitudinal centralsectional view on line 3 3, Fig. 1, showing the operative parts of theapparatus in their normal position. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal centralsectional view on line 3 3, F ig. 1, but showing the operative parts ofthe apparatus in their position during the passage of a ballot throughthe apparatus. Fig. 5, 6, and 7 are detailed views showing the rack andpinion mechanism for operating the registering device in differentpositions.

Similar reference-figures refer to similar parts in the different views.

My invention relates to a self-registering and canceling ballot-box bywhich individual ballots as fed are received, canceled, and reg istered,and it comprises individual features of construction and arrangement ofparts for the accomplishment of these objects and for obviating theliability of error in the operation of the apparatus, and it has alsofor its further object to simplify the construction of the apparatus andto render the operation of the several parts accurate and certain; andto this end my invention consists in the construction and arrangement ofparts as hereinafter described, and pointed out in the annexed claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, 1 represents asupporting-framework capable of being suitably supported upon a box orcasing 2, partially shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, in which the ballotsafter passing through the apparatus and being registered and canceled,are deposited. Supported by the framework 1 is an inclined feed-board 3,upon which the ballot is deposited by the voter face downward and uponwhich it is pushed forward by hand until its advancing end is caughtbetween the peripheries of the rolls 4 and 5. The roll 4 is attached toa rotating shaft 6, having one end projecting beyond the frame andprovided with a crank-handle 7, by which the roll 4 is rotated in thedirection of the arrow 8, causing the ballot to be drawn from the feed-board 3 between the rolls 4 and 5. The roll 5 is attached to a shaft 9,which is journaled in the free ends of swinging levers 10 10, which arepivoted at their opposite ends upon a rod 11, held in the framework ofthe machine. Attached to each of the levers 10 10 are blade-springs 12,having their ends bearing upon fixed studs 13 held, in the frame 1, withthe tension of the blade-springs 12 applied to depress the free ends ofthe levers 10 to press the roll 5 against the roll 4 and preventing theslipping of theballot as it passes between the rolls. The rolls 4 and 5are grooved to admit a series of rolls 14, carried upon ashaft 15, whichis ournaled in a swinging frame 16, pivoted at 17 to the frame 1. Theswinging frame 16 carries a stud 18, which passes through a slot 19 inthe frame 1, which limits the swinging movement of the frame 16, thestud 18 being normally held at the bottom of the slot by the weight ofthe swinging frame and the rolls 1. 4, with the edges of the rolls 14entering the grooves of the roll 4. The central roll 14 is provided witha series of projections which in the present instance are molded upon arubber band 20, placed upon the periphery of the roll and adapted to beinked by an inking-roll 21, journaled in a swinging frame 22, pivoted tothe frame 1 at 23, with the free end of the frame 22 resting against afixed stud 24, held in the frame 1, against which stud the frame 22 isheld by the tension of a spiral spring 25, attached at one end to theswinging frame 22 and at the opposite end to the fixed frame 1.

Supported beneath the inking-roll 21 and upon a bracket 26 is a pan 27to prevent the dripping or spattering of surplus ink downward into theboX or ballot-receptacle 2. Pivoted upon the rod 1 1 is a tiltingguard-wire 28, having a short arm 29 extending hori- Zontally over thefeed-board 3, and a longer arm 30 passing downward through a slot 31 inthe feed-board. As a ballot is fed over the feed-board, its advancingend, striking the long depending-arm 30 of the tilting guardwire, raisesit into the position shown in Fig. 4, thereby depressing the short arm29 against the upper surface of the ballot, which is pushed by thepressure of the arm 29 into a trough-shaped depression 32,for1ned in theupper surface of the feed-board 3, thereby causing the ballot to bedepressed below the plane of the supporting-surface of the feedboard. Asthe ballot is moved forward between the rolls 4 and 5 it is projectedbetween the rolls 4 and 14, causing the rolls 14 to be lifted into theposition shown in Fig. 4, and carrying the band of the central-roll 14against the inking-roll 21, so that the ink transferred to the rubberband will be applied tocancel the ballot. The swinging frame 16, whichcarries the rolls 14, supports at its free end a bent wire 33, havingits end turned upwardly at 34 and adapted to pass through the slot 31 inthe feed-board as the rolls 1.4 are raised by the ballot in. theposition shown in Fig. 4, thereby raising that portion of the ballotfrom the feed-board and lifting the ballot against the pressure of thearm 29 of the tilting guard-wire 28, and also against the lower edges ofa pair of plates 35, which are pivoted upon the rod 11, and are held inan inclined plane with their lower edges resting u on the feed-board.The plates 35 are slig itly inclined to the surface of the feed-board ina direction to permit the forward movement of the ballot over thefeedboard, but resist the backward movement of the ballot by theengagement of the lower edges of the plates therewith, the plates thenacting as ratchets to prevent the ballot from being pulled backward.Each of the ratchet-plates 35 is provided with a weight 36 to hold theplate in firmer contact with the surface of the ballot.

Supported by the framework 1 is a registering mechanism capable of beingactuated by a swinging pawl-lever 36, which is held in its normalposition by a spring 37. The registering mechanism may be of any knownform of construction, and as it forms no part of my present invention Ihave not deemed it necessary to describe its construction and operationin detail. The pawl-lever 36 is intermittently rocked in the directionof the arrow 38 and against the tension of the spring 37 during thepassage of a ballot between the rolls 4 and 5 by means of a push-rod 39,pivoted to the pawl-lever 36 and provided with a rack 40 at its oppositeend capable of slid ing on a pin 40, held in a pivoted lever 41, pivotedat 42 upon the fixed framework 1 and connected at its free end by a link43 with the stud 18, which is carried by the swinging frame 16. As theswinging frame 16 is raised by the passage of a ballot between rolls 4and 14 the lever 41 is rocked on its pivot to bring the rack 40 intoengagement with a pinion 44, carried on the main shaft 6. The rotationof the pinion 44 in the direction of the arrow 8, Fig. 2, will cause thepush-rod 39 to be moved in the direction of the arrow 45, therebyrocking the pawl-lever 36 in the direction of the arrow 38 to actuatethe registering device. When the rack 40 has been moved a suflicientdistance to actuate the registering device, its shoulder 46 is carriedpast the pin 40, which allows the rack to fall by gravity and carry itout of engagement with the pinion 44. The engagement of the pin 4O withthe shoulder 46 then holds the rack from reverse movement until theballot has entirely passed between the rolls 4 and 14, when the weightof the rolls 14 carry them downward into their normal position and againdepress the pivoted lever 41. As the lever 41 is depressed the push-rod39 strikes against a hub 47 on the lever 41, cansing the shoulder 46 tobe disengaged from the stop-pin 40, when. the tension of the spring 37reverses the pawl-lever 36 and carries the rack 40 into its normalposition, as shown, in Fig. 2.

Attached in any convenient position upon the side of the framework is abell 48, capable of being struck by a hammer 49, which is pivoted at 50upon theside of the frame and is normally held out of contact with thebell. The pivoted hammer is provided with a tailpiece 51, adapted to bestruck by a bracket 52, attached to the push-rod 39, with sulficientforce to overcome the weight of the hammer 49 and throw it against thebell 48. As soon as the hammer has struck the bell 48 its weightrestores it to its normal position with the tailpiece 51 resting againstthe bracket 52. Pivoted eccentrically at 53 upon the frame 1 is a roller54 with its periphery in contact with the roll 4 in order to prevent itsreverse movement.

The line 55, Fig. 4, indicates the position of a ballot when passingthrough the machine and before it has been withdrawn from the feed-board3, said ballot being engaged by the feed-rolls 4 and 5 and spanning thegrooves in the roll 4, causing the series of rolls 14 to be raised forthe purpose of lifting the swinging rack 40 into engagement with therotating pinion 44 and at the same time carry the canceling characterson the band 20 into contact with the inking-roll 21, which is capable ofa yielding motion dueto the swinging frame 22 and spiral spring 25. Inthe position shown in Fig. 4 the ballot is depressed by the arm 29 intothe depression 32 of the feed-board an d is raised from the feedboard bythe end 34 of the bent wire 33.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a feed-board on which a ballot is presented tothe machine, said feed-board having a depression in its upper surface,of means for depressing the ballot as it passes over the depressedsurface of the feed-table.

2. The combination with a feed-board on which a ballot is presented tothe machine, said feed-board having a depression in its upper surface,of a tilting guard -wire arranged to depress a ballot as it passes oversaid depression, and means for actuating said guard-wire determined bythe passage of a ballot through the machine 3. The combination with afeed-board, on which a ballot is presented to the machine, saidfeed-board having a depression in its u per surface, of a tiltingguard-wire pivotally supported above said feed-board, and having an armextending over said depressed surface, and an arm extending into thepath of the ballot as it moves over said feedboard, whereby saidguard-wire is actuated.

4. The combination with a feed-board on which a ballot is presented tothe machine, said feed-board having a depression in its upper surface, apair of rolls by which a ballot is drawn over said feed-board, a tiltingguard-wire pivoted above said feed-board and having an arm fordepressing a ballot into the depression of the feed-board, and a secondarm interposed into the path of a ballot as it is drawn from thefeed-board.

5. The combination with a feed-board on which a ballot is presented tothe machine, said feed-board having a depression in its upper surface,of a pair of rolls for drawing the ballot from the feed-board, of atilting guard-wire pivoted above said feed-board having one armextending over the upper surface of the feed-board, and a second armextending downward into the path of the ballot as it is moved from thefeed-board, and a pair of weighted ratchet-plates pivotally supportedabove the feed-board and arranged to ear on a ballot adjacent to thedepressed surface of said feed-board.

6. The combination with a feed-board on which a ballot is presented tothe machine, said feed-board having a depression in its upper surface,of means for depressing a ballot as it passes over said depressedsurface and means for holding the ballot in contact with the feed-boardadjacent to said de pressed surface.

7. The combination with a feed-board on which a ballot is presented tothe machine, said feed-board having a depression in its upper surface,of means for depressing a ballot as it passes over said de ressedsurface, means for pressing the bal ot against the feed-board behindsaid depressed surface and intermediate means for lifting the ballotfrom the feed-board.

8. The combination with a feed-board on which a ballot is presented tothe machine, of a pair of rolls for engaging the ballot to draw it fromsaid feed-board, the rolls of said pair having corresponding grooves,and a series of rolls entering the grooves of said pair of rolls, acommon shaft supporting said series of rolls and 'a swinging framesupporting said shaft, whereby said series of rolls are capable of arising and falling motion.

9. The combination with a pair of grooved rolls for feeding a ballotinto the machine, of a series of rolls normally entering the grooves insaid feed-rolls, whereby they are raised by the passage of a ballot, aswinging frame carrying said series of rolls, a registering device andintermediate mechanism operatively connecting said registering mechanismand said swinging frame.

10. The combination witha pair of grooved feed-rolls, of a series ofrolls entering the grooves of said feed-rolls, and capable of beinglifted by the passage of a ballot, canceling characters carried by oneof the rolls in said series and an ink-roll running in contact with saidcharacters.

11. The combination with a feed-board having an opening and a groovedroll forming one of a pair of ballot-feeding rolls, of a series of rollsentering the grooves of said feed-roll and arranged to be lifted out ofsaid grooves by the passage of a ballot, a swinging frame carrying saidseries of rolls, and a bent guard-wire carried by said swinging frameand adapted to be raised through the opening in said feed-board.

12. The combination with a pair of feedrolls, of a series of rollsadapted to be raised by the passage of a ballot, a common shaft carryingsaid rolls, a swinging frame carrying said shaft, means for limiting thedownward movement of said frame, and a bent guardwire carried by saidswinging frame and arranged to be raised in front of said feed-rolls toprevent the passage of a second ballot while said rolls are in a raisedposition.

13. The combination of a pair of feed-rolls provided with correspondinggrooves and a roll entering said grooves but capable of being moved outof said grooves by the passage of a ballot, canceling characters on saidroll and an ink-roll running in contact with said characters.

14. The combination with a main rotating shaft and a pinion carried onsaid shaft, of a registering device, a swinging-pawl lever for actuatingsaid registering device, and means for operatively connecting saidpawl-lever with said pinion as determined by the passage of a ballotthroughthe machine and consisting of a link pivoted to said pawl-lever,a rack carried by said link, a lever pivoted to the framework, a pincarried by said lever and extending beneath said rack, a swinging framearranged to be raised by a passing ballot, and a link connecting saidswinging frame and said pivoted lever.

15. The combination with a pair of grooved feedrolls, of a swingingframe, a roll carried by said swinging frame and normally entering oneof the grooved feed-rolls, and arranged to be raised by a passingballot, a rotating pinion, a swinging rack, a pivoted lever, a pincarried by said pivoted lever and extending beneath said rack, a linkconnecting said pivoted lever and said swinging frame, a registeringdevice, and means for operatively connecting said rack and saidregistering device.

16. The combination with a pair of feedrolls, of a pinion carried on theshaft of one oi the feed-rolls, a registering device comprising'aswinging pawl-lever, a link pivoted to said pawl-lever, a rack carriedby the end of said link and provided with a notch on its under side, alever pivoted to the frame, a pin carried by said lever and arranged tosupport said rack, and means for rocking said lever to carry the rackinto engagement with said pinion as determined by the passage of aballot between said feed-rolls.

17. The combination with a rotatable pinion and a registering device, ofa swinging rack operatively connected with said registering device andnormally out of engagement with said pinion, a lever pivoted at one endto a supporting-framework, a pin projecting from said lever andsupporting said rack, and means determined by the passage of a ballotthrough the machine for raising the free end of said lever to carry therack into engagement with the pinion.

18. The combination with a rotatable pinion, and a registering device,of a swinging rack operatively connected with said registering deviceand normally out of engagement with said pinion, a lever pivoted at oneend to a supporting-tramework, a pin projecting from said lever andsupporting said rack, means for raising the free end of said lever,determined by the passage of a ballot through the machine, to carry therack into engagement with said pinion, a shoulder on said rack arrangedto allow the rack to fall out of engagement with said pinion and engagesaid supporting-pin to hold said rack from longitudinal movement.

19. The combination with a rotatable pinion and a registering device, ofa swinging rack operatively connected with said registering device andnormally held out of engagement with said pinion, a lever pivoted at oneend to a supporting-fra1nework, a pin projecting from said lever andsupporting said rack, means for raising the free end of said lever tocarry the rack into engagement with said pinion, means for raising andlowering the free end of said lever determined by the passage of aballot through. the machine, a shoulder on said rack to engage theracksupporting pin, and. means for lifting the rack out of engagementwith said pin.

20. Tn an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a pair ofgrooved feedrolls, a canceling-roll engaging a groove in saidfeed-rolls, a yielding inking-roll normally out of engagement with saidcanceling-roll, a shaft carrying said canceling-roll,

movable bearings for said sha'lt, whereby said canceling-roll is capableof being moved into contact with said inking-roll.

EDTVARD K. TITOLMAN.

Vitnesses RUFUS B. FOWLER, PENELOPE OOMBIERBACII.

